Mentor: Bios

Mentors are highly qualified, experienced professionals who make themselves available in your local area to help you learn the course material and get certified. Each Mentor is hand-selected from students that have completed their relevant GIAC certification with scores of 85% or higher.

Aleali, Ali

Mr. Ali Aleali is an experienced Information Security Analyst, Vulnerability Assessment Analyst, and Forensic Examiner with extensive knowledge of defensive and offensive sides of enterprise security. He is able to analyze complex information security issues and communicate them to both technical and none-technical audience effectively.
During his career, Mr. Aleali has worked in a wide range of roles including: senior lecturer, web developer, network administrator, and IT security analyst all of which have helped him become a well-rounded information security professional with both deep technical skills and also business acumen. His current role is focused on Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing, and Security Assessment.
His education background includes Bachelors and Masters of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with concentration on nano-scale opto-electronics device design.

Baker, Chris

Chris is a Director in IT Security at GlaxoSmithKline where he leads the services that deliver the IT controls that protect the company's network, servers, web and mobile applications, and data. He has led many incident response and vulnerability remediation efforts and has been working for over 20 years in the healthcare industry to promote information protection and IT security. He knows that striking the best balance between security and usability depends on having a clear understanding of the risks that vulnerabilities and threats pose to the business and being able to articulate those risks to senior business leaders. Chris earned his MBA from Drexel University with concentrations in both Management Information Systems and Corporate Finance and holds several professional and security certifications including GPEN, CISM, and a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Chris is an active member of the infosec community and looks for every opportunity to both learn and encourage others to gain a deeper understanding of the fascinating and often intimidating world of information security. He regularly takes part in security training, conferences such as Shmoocon and BSides, and capture-the-flag challenges to apply and grow his skills and understanding.

Barbosa, Laios

Laios Barbosa is a Brazilian Army Officer and a senior network and information system security administrator at Brazilian Ministry of Defense. He has a Computer Engineering degree from the Military Institute of Engineering (IME) and a specialization in Information Security. In your career, he is responsible to administer and defend military systems and networks, composed of multiple operation systems, almost linux flavor, several network equipments and defense enterprise solutions (firewall, IPS, IDS), satellite communications, etc. He worked for the United Nations (UN) in Haiti as a peacekeeper and a system and network administrator of Brazilian Battalion. He holds some certifications as CISSP, GSEC, GCED, GCIA, GCIH, GPEN, GWAPT, OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) and OSWP (Offensive Security Wireless Professional). He is a great enthusiast of security challenges and has some rewards as Capture The Flag Victor - Network Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking - SEC560 - Cyber Defense Initiative 2012, Capture The Flag Victor - Hacker Techniques, Exploits and Incident Handling - SEC504 - SANS Boston 2013, 2nd Place - Netwars Tournament at Cyber Defense Initiative 2012, 3rd Place - Netwars Tournament at Cyber Defense Initiative 2013, Champion of South America Global Cyberlympics 2013 (EC-Council Foundation). It is a great pleasure to be a Mentor and have the opportunity to share knowledge and experience in information security and help to increase the global security awareness.

Bernal Michelena, David Eduardo

David Bernal Michelena holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Since June 2015 he serves as a cyber security researcher in Cyber Security Group in Scitum, a large consultant company in Mexico and Latin America. David's main activities are malware analysis, cyber threat intelligence, digital forensics and writing yara and snort rules to detect those threats and protect customers. David also performs ethical offensive activities and writes custom tools that are used in controlled environments to verify that security products do what they claim to do.
From July 2013 to June 2015 David was a member of Security Events team at Alstom, a large company in energy and transport solutions protecting the endpoint environment of about 90,000 hosts distributed worldwide. In his time in Alstom his main activities were incident response, malware analysis and remediation, forensic analysis, IPS/IDS and SIEM management.
Formerly he served as a Senior Computer Forensic Analyst at Scitum from July 2011 to July 2013. His main activities there were evidence acquisition, analysis, preservation, incident response, log analysis and results reporting to Scitum's customers. In Scitum he had the opportunity to work in challenging projects for Mexican private and public institutions, including large Banks and other large government clients.
From August 2009 to July 2011 he worked as a forensic analyst and incident handler in UNAM Computer Emergency Response Team, which is the first CERT to be created in Mexico. David is GREM, GCFA, GCFE and Access Data certified. He likes programming in several languages and is a command line lover in LINUX and Windows as well.
On his free time, he likes to swim and play the piano.

Blidaru, Raluca

Raluca is an experienced Information Security and Privacy specialist, holding a Master Degree in IT Security, and several industry recognized certifications: GSEC, CISSP, CRISC, CISM, CISA, CIPT and PMP. With her employer, Raluca is heavily involved in various cyber security initiatives, leading information risk assessments, supporting the application security program, participating in the development of security architecture patterns for new platforms and technologies. Raluca is also a former Computer Science teacher, with 10+ teaching experience. Raluca is a believer in continuing education, so when she is not studying for a new certification or a new skill, she loves helping others learn and having again the opportunity to teach!

Caiado, Marcelo

Marcelo has an extensive and diversified experience within the information technology sector. He has been carrying out computer forensics investigations for over 8 years. Worked with incident response / computer emergency response, being responsible for conducting investigations and responding to networking intrusion attempts. He investigated and handled privacy-related incidents and consumer complaint in liaison with Legal and Human Resources departments. Analyzed and documented, including root cause analysis, information security incidents as well as the analysis of the circumstances enabling or permitting these same incidents to take place, including offering remediation strategies. Investigated and immediately stopped leaks and inadvertent disclosures of confidential information. Developed policies and security awareness programs. Worked with highly sensitive information in a team environment.

Marcelo enforced Firewall, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), anti-virus and anti-spam configuration and maintenance. He assisted with the selection, installation, and adoption of automated tools that enforce or monitor the compliance with information security policies, procedures, standards, and similar information security requirements. He analyzed and documented information security incidents as well as the analysis of the circumstances enabling or permitting these same incidents to take place. Audited, verified network security and gave recommendations to improve the network security. Executed wireless evaluations and security auditings. Advised organizations with current information about information security technologies and issues and researched and recommended solutions. Wrote user manuals on security softwares and computer, email and Internet user policy. Developed and implemented user security awareness programs, with seminars, conferences, folders, newsletters and helpful suggestions. Designed and reviewed Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 and Linux security architecture.

Marcelo has assisted task forces in lawsuits as technical assistant, acting as a expert witness in civil trails. He assisted in computer crimes (cybercrime) investigations and was responsible for establishing a chain of custody for evidence. He performed customer data analysis of data requested from banks and telecommunication companies, as requested by Brazilian Attorneys. He wrote, compiled and edited reports of security activities.

Marcelo has also worked as an associate professor on some colleges training on the following subjects: Law, Investigation and Ethics; Physical Security; Systems Security and Auditing; Networking; Cryptography; Software Engineering; Data Processing Center Administration. He worked as instructor for the Security Fundamentals Course (Presidency of Republic) for over than 10 classes. He was lecturer at the most important Information Security conferences in Brazil.

Cardosa, Mike

Mike Cardosa is currently the Assistant Vice President of Information Security and Risk Management at The Church Pension Group. His experience includes information security, systems administration, technical architecture design, and business process engineering. Prior to working at CPG, Mike was a consultant at Accenture where he worked on projects for both the US Department of Treasury and Columbia University. He has multiple GIAC certifications as well as the CISSP. He developed and maintains Winquisitor, an information gathering tool for MS Windows, for which he earned his GCIH Gold certification. Mike holds an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business and a BS from Georgetown University.

Druin, Jeremy

Jeremy Druin works as an internal pen-tester, incident responder, and defect-remediation expert for a multi-national transportation logistics company. Other responsibilities include web vulnerability assessment operations, setting application and database security standards, creating developer training programs, and teaching developers how to architect, design and write secure applications. Additionally Jeremy develops the open-source Mutillidae 2.x training environment and consults on web-application security topics. As the Director of Education for the Kentuckiana ISSA chapter, Jeremy presents on web application pen-testing and remediation along with operating the "webpwnized" YouTube video channel. Jeremy has a Bachelor in Computer Science from Indiana University and is a GIAC-certified Network/Web Application Pen-Tester and Exploit Developer.

Elovitz, Steven

Steve Elovitz is currently a Manager within Mandiant's security consulting team. Mr. Elovitz has a broad range of experience in the industry and has delivered both proactive and reactive services to government and commercial clients. Steve has significant experience in IR, forensics, as well as penetration testing. Steve graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Information Science and holds multiple certifications including: GPEN, EnCE, CEH, and CISSP. Throughout his career, Steve has gained experience as a sysadmin, a developer, and as both a red team and blue team analyst.

Galley, Craig

Craig Galley is an Information Technology Professional with accomplished work experience in the Security industry since 2001. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Science from the University of North Florida. Early in his career, he was responsible for deployment and management of network prevention controls for a private sector organization.

Craig's career focus shifted exclusively to application development with a desire to lead secure coding best practices while chaired on Information Security Steering committees and managing large development projects and teams.

Craig's certifications include GSEC, GISP, CISSP and CSSLP. In his current role as an Information Security Officer, Craig manages and directs an Information Security Program in the public sector. He is also active in Information Security groups, with volunteer experience as a Vice President.

Gifford, Charles

Charles Gifford (Chazz) is a recognized expert within cybersecurity and has been working in the information technology and security field since 1997. Over the course of his career, Chazz has held various technical and leadership positions within the Aerospace and Manufacturing Industry. Chazz currently leads a Global Security and Risk Team for a fortune 500 company that spans everything region. Chazzs latest scholastic achievement is graduating with honors from the University of Maryland University College in the Masters of Science in Information Technology focused in Information Assurance. Chazz has specialized in mentoring, metrics and measuring effectiveness of security teams throughout the last 5 years of experience.

Harsch, Shane

Shane Harsch is an information security professional with over 25 years of experience ranging from military to manufacturing to security consulting and professional services. He has managed and architected SOCs for the military and managed service providers. Shane is a commissioned officer in the US Army with a Masters in Business (MBA), and maintains the following certifications: intrusion analyst (GCIA), incident handling (GCIH), enterprise defense (GCED), and information security (CISSP). Shane is currently with RSA as a Senior Solution Success Manager.

Some additional background:

His soft skills are founded in theater, music, and foreign languages, all cultivated while living in Germany. Additionally, Shane spent 12 years in the US Army, receiving a commission and attaining the rank of Chief Warrant Officer, experience which has served him well as a leader, mentor, and team member. Shane enjoys skiing, fiction of all kinds, and is an active designer and writer in the tabletop gaming industry.

Helin, Matt

Matt Helin has over 10 years experience in the IT and data communications field. He is a former network and systems engineer who has shifted his primary focus to all things information security for the past few years. He holds the CISSP and GCIH certifications and currently works in the information security department for a high profile e-commerce company. Matt is excited to mentor SEC 504 because it is generally a person's first exposure to common hacking tools. Witnessing first hand how systems are breached can be amazing, alarming, and eye opening.

Isaacs, Russell

Russell Isaacs is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran and Chief Warrant Officer in the Army National Guard with more than 17 years active duty experience. Mr. Isaacs serves as a Information Protection/Network Defense Technician (255S) for the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and is the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the Information Assurance / Network Defense (IA/ND) Cell for one of the U.S. Army?s Warfighter Information Tactical Enterprise Network?s (WIN-T). Mr. Isaacs is also the WIN-T Information Assurance Program Manager for the 50th IBCT responsible for coordinating and developing the IA Program requirements to reduce risk, improve security, achieve compliance and provide an Educated Suspicious Posture on a Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN/WIN-T).

Mr. Isaacs is New Jersey's lead Cyber instructor for the State Partnership Program (SPP) that assist's a partnered NATO nation in developing a capable Information Assurance military workforce by coaching, teaching and mentoring their Ministry Of Defense sectors in the area of Cyber Risk Management, Risk Assessment and Incident Response. This strengthens the collective international Information Assurance and Cyber Defense posture for partner/coalition nations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Janzen, Cliff

From load FILENAME,8,1...to the Start button... to touch interfaces, technology has been a constant companion (and sometimes obsession) for Cliff.

Cliff's professional career started 18+ years ago as a help desk analyst supporting mainframes and dial-up internet. He progressed through desktop support, desktop management and server administration and joined the security team in late 2008. The wide diversity of topics in security has Cliff thirsting for knowledge like he was a teenager again.

Kelly, Shawn

Shawn has over 17 years in the field of IT and 10 specifically in an Information Security role. Currently Shawn has taken a position as the Information Security Officer at the University of California School of Medicine. In this role Shawn is responsible for building a robust security program to meet the needs of both educational and healthcare requirements. His responsibility is to implement the policies, standards and procedures to build the framework for this security program. Once the framework is in place his responsibilities also deal with building a security team and implementing technologies and best practices to support this security program. Throughout his career Shawn has had the opportunity to implement many security programs and technologies including encryption, next generation firewalls, IPS/IDS systems, vulnerability management and data loss prevention.
Shawn holds many industry certifications including the well known CISSP, GSEC and GCCC. Shawn is always continuing his education and will be taking many more SANS and other security courses.
Shawn is excited to have the opportunity to get more in touch with the individuals that are in the security industry near him. He looks forward to being able to pass along some of his experiences and lend a helping hand to the next generation of security professionals.

Khan, Azeem

As an information security professional, Azeem has accrued years of experience in security engineering, incident response, digital forensics and vulnerability management. A firm believer in ongoing education, he works hard to keep his base of knowledge current and up to date. Although he holds accreditations from such industry leaders as GIAC, ISC2 and Access Data already, he is constantly looking for ways to learn more and to gain a better understanding of his field, attending and volunteering at conferences such as Shmoocon and Blackhat.

Azeem is a natural people person who connects easily with people from all backgrounds. He enjoys working with and mentoring people who are motivated to the same extent that he is, and he takes real pleasure in discussing the security field. A strong advocate for continued progress in the security field, he speaks eloquently and listens closely, knowing that there is always something for him to learn and share.

Azeem looks forward to serving as a mentor as a way to provide value to the community that has become so much like home to him over the years.

Kinder, Jason

Jason Kinder has over 17+ years of experience in the IT and InfoSec industry working in the private sector as a network administrator, network engineer, and then moving to manage a distributed IT group before making the jump over to InfoSec. The jump over to InfoSec has put him in a position to manage InfoSec Operations for a multi-billion dollar defense contractor battling some of today's shared adversaries.
Through the course of his career his has gained the MCSE and CNE certs back in the day and worked hard recently to achieve the CISSP certification and more recently his GCIH. Backed by a breadth of technical skill and knowledge, it also takes some keen business sense and acumen to properly navigate today's corporate environment. While working in IT, Jason earned a Bachelor's of Science Degree from Wright State University in Dayton, OH in 2001 followed by an MBA with a concentration in Management, Change and Innovation also at Wright State University in 2009. The technical and business skills he has amassed over his career are key to being successful and properly understanding today's security landscape and how it impacts the business.
Jason is very excited about the opportunity to Mentor SEC504 as a way to give back to the community, broaden people's minds, and training the InfoSec staff of tomorrow. The challenge is here and now with adversaries evolving and regularly knocking on our doors. Jason will help students be better prepared to identify and deal with these challenges on a regular basis.

Knaffl, Bill

Bill has a Bachelor?s of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama Birmingham and a Master's of Science in Technical Management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Currently he is working on his Masters of Science in Information Security Engineering through SANS Technical Institute and has numerous certifications through SANS. Bill began his career in computer technology in the early 1990's while working at the University of Alabama Birmingham. There, he learned many of the widespread platforms and operating systems, employing computer troubleshooting and virus removal skills. He has been employed with Northrop Grumman for 17 years, during which he has performed several roles including desktop support, client engineering, systems engineering, and most recently information security.

Lee, Travis

Travis Lee is the Director of Penetration Testing at AppSec Consulting with over 11 years of experience in Information Security, Network and System Administration, and System Architecture. He has expertise in many areas including network and web application penetration testing, mobile and client application penetration testing, security management and operations, vulnerability research, cyber-physical systems, and conducting technical training. He has discovered and responsibly disclosed numerous vulnerabilities in commercial software, web applications, and cyber-physical control systems.

Travis is a Computer Science graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and holds numerous professional certifications including the prestigious GSE, OSCE, OSCP, GXPN, GREM, GPEN, GCIA, GCIH, GCFA, GSNA, GSEC, CISSP, and MCSA. Additionally, Travis has achieved the distinctive title of SANS Cyber Guardian (Red Team). Travis is also a Cyber Warfare Officer for the Air National Guard and part of a leading, nationally recognized Cyber Operations unit that conducts worldwide, full spectrum network security operations to improve the DoD Global Information Grid and the Air Force's network security posture. Prior to joining AppSec, Travis worked in the utilities industry and higher education.

Twitter: @eelsivart

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travisklee?

Luongo, Roy

Roy Luongo is a cyber professional with over 15 years experience. As a CNO operator, Roy has performed offensive cyber operations and adversary emulation for the federal government for many years. He served as a technical director for interactive operations and the Chief, NSA Red Team. As a SME for the United States Army and the Department of Defense(DOD) he has developed thousands of cyber professionals through direct training and workforce design used throughout the DOD and other Federal organizations.
Mr. Luongo holds two Masters Degrees in Information Management and Cyber Security Additionally, he holds CISSP, GCIH, GPEN, GXPN, GAWN, and GMOB certifications. He has worked with local high schools to mentor teams to the final rounds of both the Cyber Patriot and Maryland Cyber Competitions and is an avid promoter of cyber skills in middle and high school curriculums. Mr. Luongo has also served as a member of the Center of Academic Excellence, Cyber for the Department of Defense, working with Universities and Colleges to expend curriculums and degree programs in Cyber Security and Cyber Defense.
Roy enjoys working with like-minded individuals and mentoring for the SANS Institute, allows him to experience the growth of cyber in a small group collaborative setting. Mentorship allows him to give back to a community that has given him so much.

Peterson, Lisa

Lisa Peterson CISA, CRISC, CISSP has worked in Information Security for 20 years, and is a Security Analyst for Progressive Insurance. Her current focus is in governance, risk and compliance. She is a part-time instructor at Cleveland State University and also speaks on security topics. She serves on the board for the Information Security Summit, the Northeast Ohio chapter of ISACA, and the Northeast Ohio chapter of CSA.

Romero, Steven

Steven Romero is a 20-year technical professional with experience in IT operations, ICS engineering, project management, & training. Steven is passionate about information security, and is a strong advocate and beneficiary of the SANS hands-on approach to learning. Please join Steve and thousands of other InfoSec professionals who have advanced their knowledge and career through the SANS training and certification program.

Sokolovskiy, Dmitriy

Dmitriy Sokolovskiy entered the Information Technology field in 1999 and throughout the years gained experience in multiple fields, including Windows and Unix server administration, NOC and SOC operations, large scale security projects and live incident response and remediation for some of the largest breaches in US history. He is a Certified Information System Security Professional and a GIAC Certified Enterprise Defender.
Dmitriy had a first hand experience with the incredible lack of knowledgeable and experienced information security professionals in the IT and wanted to utilize his skills and experience to help close this gap.

Voorhees, James

Jim Voorhees was named MSISM Program Director of SANS Technology Institute (STI) in November 2011. A graduate of STI, Dr. Voorhees has had a varied career in government and private industry. He earned his Ph.D from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies after earning degrees in International Affairs from the George Washington University and working on the editorial staff of the International Food Policy Research Institute. After writing a book for the Kettering Foundation (Dialogue Sustained) and experience with Kettering, the Congressional Research Service, and IREX, Dr. Voorhees entered the IT industry as a technical writer, he quickly moved on to systems administration, then IT security and SANS. He has worked on security at several government agencies, including the FBI and the IRS, and currently works for Sage Management as a Network Security Engineer on a DOD contract.

Webb, Tom

Tom Webb has 9 years of experience in IT Administration and Security. Tom started his career working for state law enforcement where he was responsible for network design, implementation and security. He is currently employed with the University of South Carolina as an Information Security Officer where his primary role includes: Lead Incident Handler and Forensic investigations, Penetration Testing,
Vulnerability Management, and Risk Assessments. In these roles, Tom has worked extensively with a variety of operating systems and tools, such as Novell Netware, Linux, OS X, Snort, Juniper, Cisco, Checkpoint, and numerous open source forensic and incident response tools.

Wyatt, Jonathan

Jonathan Wyatt is current assigned to I Marine expeditionary Force as a Defensive Cyberspace Operations planner and instructor. From 2011 to 2015, he served at Marine Forces Cyberspace Command as a senior Cyberspace Operator and Planner responsible for assisting in the defense of the global Marine Corps Enterprise Network.